Kansas City Southern Railway has always been an unusual property, and this book examines some of the qualities that have made it so. The focus is on the period during which its affairs were managed by three generations of the same family, the Deramus era. This book is not a study of management or of financial affairs, but rather of motive power and train operations.

The heart of this book is the diesel age, but the age of steam that preceded it (and coexisted with it for about 15 years) is covered, too. Among its many achievements, KCS introduced the diesel streamliner to its service territory, and the premier Southern Belle gets pilot-to-markers coverage. Included is a full steam and a full diesel locomotive roster to support the story of KCS's motive power and the trains it pulled - and occasionally pushed - in the Deramus Eras. Join us as we observe the passage of the Southern Belle, await the arrival of repowered FM Erie-builts, or hear a quartet of first-generation diesel locomotives crawl, working at full throttle, up the grade at Rich Mountain.The dustjacket features a specially-commissioned painting by noted railroad artist Mike Danneman.


Hardcover, 8.5" x 11", 232 pages (9 pages in color), 475 photos (22 color photos)